Drafting roll weighting mechanism

ABSTRACT

IN A SPINNING MACHINE, AN UPPER DRAFTING ROLL MOUNTING AND WEIGHTING MECHANISM IS DISCLOSED FOR PROPERLY RECEIVING AND URGING THE UPPER DRAFTING ROLL IN ENGAGEMENT AGAINST THE LOWER DRIVING DRAFTING ROLL AT ANY OR ALL OF THE FRONT, MIDDLE AND REAR DRAFTING ROLL ASSEMBLIES. THE MECHANISM INCLUDES AN UPWARDLY DIRECTED, OPEN-FACE BEARING WHICH LOOSELY SUPPORTS THE CENTRAL ARBOR OF THE UPPER ROLL OF ANY OF SAID ASSEMBLIES, AND A TOGGLE LINKAGE WHICH IS ACTIVATED TO BRING A BEARING PRESSURE DOWNWARD-   LY AGAINST THE CENTRAL ARBOR THEREBY URGING THE ENLARGED ENDS OF THE UPPER ROLL INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE LOWER ROLL. ALSO DISCLOSED IS A TILTING SUBASSEMBLY FOR POSITIONING THE MECHANISM SO THAT THE UPPER ROLL MAY ENGAGE THE LOWER ROLL AT ANY DESIRED POSITION ABOUT ITS CIRCUMFERENCE.

S p 21, 1971 P. B. TARBOX E-TAL 3,606,646

DRAFTING ROLL WEIGH'I'ING MECHANISM 7 Filed Aug. 28, 196 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS THEIR A GEN T Sept. 21, 1971 P. a. TARBOX EI' L 3,606,646

DRAFTING ROLL WEIGHTING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 28, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTORS BY MMMM THEIR AGENT United States Patent. F

3,606,646 DRAFTIN G ROLL WEIGHTING MECHANISM Philip B. Tarbox and Gordon C. Anderson, Clemson, S.C., assignors to Maremont Corporation, Chicago, 1!]. Filed Aug. 28, 1969, Ser. No. 853,773

Int. Cl. Dlllh 5/50 U.S. Cl. 19-279 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a spinning machine, an upper drafting roll mounting and weighting mechanism is disclosed for properly receiving and urging the upper drafting roll in engagement against the lower driving drafting roll at any or all of the front, middle and rear drafting roll assemblies. The mechanism includes an upwardly directed, open-face bearing which loosely supports the central arbor of the upper roll of any of said assemblies, and a toggle linkage which is activated to bring a bearing pressure downwardly against the central arbor thereby urging the enlarged ends of the upper roll into engagement with the lower roll. Also disclosed is a tilting subassembly for positioning the mechanism so that the upper roll may engage the lower roll at any desired position about its circumference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the drafting or drawing portion of a spinning machine or the like, it is conventional to continuously rotate the lower rolls of a plurality of drafting positions on a common shaft, whereas the freely rotatable and removable upper rolls thereof are normally held in firm, frictional, driving contact with the lower rolls. Examples of known devices for maintaining the upper rolls in proper engagement with the lower rolls are shown for example, in the U.S. Letters Patent to Werth No. 2,900,674 issued on Aug. 25, 1959 and in British patent specification No. 736,498 published on Sept. 7, 1955.

Both of the typical aforesaid disclosed devices show a cam-type arrangement for urging the upper roll into engagement with the lower roll. The mechanism according to Pat. No. 2,900,674 includes a downwardly directed, open-face bearing carried by a load-applying lever for resiliently holding the central arbor of the upper roll therein, when in engagement with the lower roll. Such construction for holding the upper roll spaced somewhat above the lower roll in preparation for removal of the top roll and its central arbor for servicing is not altogether satisfactory in that quite often after repeated usage the resilient means does not grip the roll tightly enough to retain it and the latter inadvertently becomes dislodged, falls onto the bottom roll and may be damaged. Moreover, the clearance between the upper and lower rolls when in the separated position is so small as to make it difficult to remove the upper roll for servicing. The mechanism of British patent specification No. 736,498 discloses the upper roll positioned atop a horizontal surface with an angular application of pressure by a load-applying lever. These and other lever cam-type bearing mechanisms in which the dwell surface of the cam bears directly against a rotating or otherwise moving part have the disadvan tage that they subject the cam to excessive wear, to fretting or damage due to excessive rubbing of the parts. The end result is, in time, an improper and uneven weighting of the upper roll with respect to the lower roll producing intolerable imperfections in the resulting yarn strand being processed.

It is to the remedy of the aforesaid difficulties that this invention is directed. This and other objects of the invention will become apparent from or are inherent in the following description.

3,606,646 Patented Sept. 21, 1971 See SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an improved mounting and weighting mechanism wherein the upper roll is supported against the effect of gravity by being held in an upwardly directed, open-face bearing while a separate toggle activated assembly applies a non-angular and nonrubbing downward pressure on the upper roll at the arbor thereof to bring it into proper engagement with the lower roll. Not only is the upper roll held against inadvertent dislodgement according to the present construction, but

it also is quite readily lifted from the open-face bearing upon release of the present toggle mechanism. In addition, the device described herein is so constructed as to permit the upper roll and toggle mechanism associated therewith to be adjusted as a unit circumferentially with respect to the periphery of the bottom roll for prescribably changing the circumferential points of contact of the upper roll with the bottom roll. This is also particularly advantageous with respect to the middle or apron roll assembly since it permits the distance between the leading end of the cradle or apron to be prescribably and tiltably adjusted relative to the front lower roll so that the bight on the trailing edge of fibers being drafted may be prescribably varied.

The present weighting mechanism comprises generally an inverted L-shaped support arm suitably connected at its lower end to the machine frame at a position interme diate the pair of lower roll bosses and adjacent the arbor joining them, and including at the toe of its upper end an upwardly directed, open-face bearing for loosely supporting the central arbor of the top roll against inadvertent displacement. A toggle mechanism is pivotally attached to the upper arm of the inverted L-shaped support whereby, upon closing of the toggle, an intermediate portion of a lever link, which lever link indeed forms part of the toggle mechanism, is brought to bear against and apply pressure to the upper periphery of the central arbor of the upper roll. When the toggle is disengaged said lever is removed to an upright position that is spaced substantially out of engagement with and away from said central arbor, whereby the upper roll can easily be lifted out of its held position for cleaning, bufling or the like.

The inverted L-shaped support includes a transverse opening through the lower end thereof, by means of which the support is secured to a rod running longitudinally the roller beam and the rod in turn is journalled at its ends for parallel alignment to the roller beam and for slight axially pivotal movement between adjacent, upright, stationary stands attached to the roller beam. A slotted lever is secured as by a bolt to a flat portion located at each end of the rod, and by loosening said bolt extending through the slot, the rod may be rotated, so that the components of the weighting mechanism as a unit are tilted to a desired prescribed circumferential position about the periphery of the lower roll.

These and other features of the invention are more fully disclosed and will become apparent from the following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof, which should be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with some parts broken away, showing a portion of a front drafting roll assembly having a lower roll and an upper roll mounted thereon by means of a mechanism of tne present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on the center line of the weighting device cartridge housing, with some of the components shown in elevation, taken substantially along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 showing a toggle mechanism of the invention in a locked or set position;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section, similar to FIG. 2, except taken substantially along line 33 of FIG. 1, showing said toggle mechanism of the invention in a released position;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the tilt adjustment mechanism of the invention shown perspectively in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 55 of FIG. 4 showing a slotted lever used to tilt the weighting mechanism.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the assembly shown in FIG. 1 comprises a front roll support stand 14 suitably mounted on the roller beam 10, including a base 12 mounted thereon having an end 16. Base 12 portion 16, integral therewith has an upstanding tongue 17 extending along the length of base 12 transversely to the path of the roller beam. Stand 14 also comprises two rails 18 secured along the opposing surfaces 19 thereof to upstanding tongue 17 and extending beyond stand 12 so as to form a support for a middle apron roll assembly (not shown) and a top drafting roll assembly (also not shown). Both rails 18 and stand portion 16 at the top of tongue 17 are formed with an upper slot 20 which extends perpendicularly to said tongue and rails across their width for receiving a second tongue 21 extending downwardly from the fourth element, an upper block 22 of stand 14, said tongue 21 being approximately the same size and shape as slot 20. Upper block 22 further includes, as best shown in FIG. 2, the split rear end portions 23 and 25 extending rearwardly from a transverse opening therein, for receiving both one end of a saddle mounting rod 24 and an adjustment screw 26 (FIG. 1) connecting respectively upper and lower portions 23 and 25 of the split rear end for tightening them about roll 24. An arcuate U-shaped recess slot 28 is provided in the forward upper surface of upper block 22 for receiving the lower roll 30 therein. A curved retaining cap 32 (FIG. 1) overlies the upper periphery of lower roll 30 for retaining roll 30 within recess 28, which cap 32 has a flat extension 33 protuding therefrom for securing cap 32 to upper block 22 by means of screws joining them (unnumbered). So constructed, lower roll 30 and the middle apron roll and the rear roll are linearly adjustable transversely and axially of roller beam to effect proper alignment between the drafting rolls of the machine, and thus to properly align the yarn delivery with the spinning elements.

Saddle mounting rod 24 for supporting the weighting mechanism, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, is secured between adjacently spaced stands 14. A saddle supporting cartridge 34, best shown in FIG. 2, is secured thereto at a position below rod 24 and approximately mid-way between the adjacent bosses 31 (FIG. 1) on lower roll 30. An inverted L-shaped weighting support 36 (FIGS. 1 to 3) is attached to the upper end of cartridge 34 and terminates in an open-face bearing 38 at the upper end thereof having an upwardly opening recess 40 therein which loosely supports the central arbor 42 of the upper roll 44 and its bosses or cots 45 interconnected by arbor 42.

In FIG. 2, a saddle weighting assembly 46 for effecting weighting of the upper roll 44 is pivotally attached to the upper leg of L-shaped support 36 through a pin 48 and, when set in the closed position as illustrated, exerts a downward pressure at one end bearing against arbor 42, resulting in a weighting force thereagainst. A locking force is imparted to saddle 46 by a plunger 50 of a biasing means impinging thereagainst, said plunger 50 actuated by a preloaded coil spring 52 of said biasing means said spring 52 being preloaded to a desired compressive force, and normally abutting the roof of cartridge 34 at its upper end through a washer 66 of the stop 64 when the toggle is disengaged from plunger 50. Thus, spring 52 is retained within cartridge 34 to apply said locking upward force on the opposite end of saddle 46 when in its set or engaged position. In so doing, spring 52 need be depressed but slightly to transfer its preloaded force to saddle 46 and upper roll 30.

Saddle 46 itself comprises a four element toggle link assembly the first and second toggle links 54 and 56 each pivotally attached to support 36 and an upper or third link 58 pivotally attached at one end to first link 54 and joined at its other end to second link 56 by means of the fourth toggle link 60. A handle 62 is attached to the other or free end of upper link 58 for engaging and disengaging or releasing the saddle assembly and its weighting force imparted to upper roll 44. Manual movement of upper link 58 by means of handle 62 from the locked position shown in FIG. 2 to the disengaged toggle position shown in FIG. 3 disengages or releases the toggle and thus releases the weighting force on upper roll 44. Link 54 includes at an intermediate portion thereof an outstanding ear 55 (FIG. 2), the undersurface of which abuts central arbor 42, and link 56 includes at an intermediate portion thereof a similar ear 57, the undersurface of which is abutted by the end of said plunger 50.

As described above, plunger normally applies an upward pressure through preloaded spring 52 within cartridge 34 on the locked saddle assembly 46 resulting in a weighting force by means of ear of link 54 abutting against central arbor 42 of upper roll 44. As mentioned stop 64 within cartridge 34, including an annular washer 66, is engaged by the upper end of preloaded spring 52 and provides an abutting connection between spring 52 and plunger 50, the lower end of spring 52 bearing against and retained within cartridge 34 by a washer 68 and a snap or retaining ring 69 therefor.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, there is shown the tilt adjustment construction, a desirable but not essential feature of the invention, which comprises the flat shoulders 70 on the end 78 (FIG. 4) of saddle mounting and supporting rod 24 immediately adjacent the point where rod 24 is reduced thereto in diameter (see FIG. 3) and enters rear split portions 23 and 25 of upper block 22. A lever 72 best shown in FIG. 5, having an opening therein with a configuration similar to the flattened shoulder end of rod 24, is mounted on said rod, includes an arcuate slotted portion 74 at the other end. A screw 76 extends through said slot 74 and into a threaded bore in each of rails 18 and when tightened along with screw 26 between the ends 78 of adjacent cartridge support rods 24 (FIG. 4), secures adjacent rods 24 in a prescribed position. The tilt adjustment is effected by loosening screw 76 and screw 26, which screw 26 has previously been described as tightening split portions 23 and 25 of upper block 22 onto ends 78 of rod 24. Cartridge supporting rod 24 thus loosened may then be tilted to a prescribed position whereby the components of saddle 46 also are moved as a unit about lower roll 30, whereupon tightening screws 76 and 26 then holds rod 24 and saddle 46 in the desired tilted orientation.

So constructed, when the saddle mechanism 46 is released by raising handle 62, the toggle is released or put into disengaged position and link 54 is raised thereby to a substantially vertical position (FIG. 3) to no longer abut arbor 42. In such a position, mechanism 46 is spaced away from and is removed from interfering with access to openface bearing 38 (FIG. 1) supporting upper roll 44, thereby permitting upper roll 44 to be quite readily removed. A locking or resetting of toggle saddle assembly 46 to the position shown in FIG. 2, by depressing handle 62, urges link 54 down into engagement with central arbor 42 of upper roll 44. In so doing, plunger 50, bearing against the undersurface of ear 57 and against the now locked or engaged toggle causes the enlarged end boss or cot portions 45 of upper roll 44 to be brought into proper weighting relationship with bosses 31 of lower roll 30.

It should be further noted in FIG. 2 that initially, with a new upper roll (44) in place, central arbor 42 thereof does not seat entirely or bottom within the recess 40 in bearing 38 of support 36 but is spaced somewhat therefrom although in a locked position as shown. This feature permits upper roll 44 to be brought into proper alignment and abutting relationship with lower roll 36 even later when, after much use, the bearing surfaces of enlarged end portions or cots 45 of upper roll 44 and bosses 31 of lower roll may become worn. Under such worn conditions, the excess initial slack spacing in recess 40 allows central arbor 42 to descend yet further into recess 40 upon toggle locking to maintainproper drafting rela tionship between the two rolls, and still not bottom in recess slot 40. Bearing 38 is so constructed that the lower end or base of recess slot 40 is always spaced lower than the upper roll, despite wear on the latter, to obviate bottoming of the upper roll.

The weighting device, here described in example with the front roll assembly, may also to advantage be used to weight upper rolls against lower rolls in the middle and back roll assemblies where present.

In such instances, the middle and back roll assemblies may otherwise be of conventional design, except for the weighting and tilt mechanisms herein described. Further, using rails 18 as a support, both the middle and back roll assemblies may be adjustably spaced with respect to one another and the front roll assembly. In this regard, such assemblies use a slideable block constructed at its upper end like block 22 but at its lower end or base constructed so as to be slideably adjustable along rails 18 to desired positions from the other roll assemblies and then secured thereat.

In regard to the latter, a further important advantage of the present construction is to be seen. The saddle cartridge containing its biasing spring is always spaced below the upper roll and in most embodiments below the lower rol also. In so doing, the somewhat bulky cartridge housing is spaced substantially out of the way of the rolls permitting one to move the middle and back roll assemblies, along rails 18, into very close proximity both to one another and to the front roll assembly. Further, by spacing the spring below the upper roll and transmitting its biasing force through the plunger, the neck or leg of L-shaped support 36 carrying the plunger may be quite narrow further permitting the aforesaid very close approach of the various roll assemblies to one another. This advantage imparts a far greater utility to the drafting roll assemblage position on the machine than heretofore in providing a new ability to draft sliver of extremely short staple length with great precision due to very close approach of the front, middle and back rolls to one another, all the while retaining the flexibility of infinite spacing adjustment between the roll assemblies from almost touching one another to being as widely spaced as the upwardly inclined length of rails 18.

Beyond this, another important advantage flows from the present construction. Due to its placement below and out of the way of the top roll the cartridge used may be quite bulky to contain a very heavy compression spring, such spring being preloaded and imparting great and consistent force with but little linear downward compression. Thus, the toggle assembly may be freely moveable to an almost closed position before toggle ear 57 touches plunger 50. Then, with but little manual or mechanical pressure to further depress handle 62 of toggle link 58, one depresses plunger 50 and compresses its conjoined heavy spring 52 but a little distance with little effort to lock the toggle and impart a large and consistent locking force on the toggle assembly and thereby a large and consistent weighting force on the upper roll. Indeed, the degree of preloading of spring 52 determines the magni tude of the weighting force. The construction thus provides high mechanical advantage with but little effort to effect strong, non-rubbing, positive and consistent weighting of the upper roll against the lower roll. Even further, handle 62 thus need be raised but a small distance with little effort to disengage the toggle from plunger 50, then permitting the toggle to be disengaged or released with almost no effort and the raised to an almost vertical position spaced well out of the way of the upper roll, for its easy removal from U-slot 40 for servicing.

Thus, through the present construction now disclosed, yet other substantial advantages are realized beyond the non-rubbing, non-bottoming, positive support of the upper roll at all times, the easy removal of the upper roll for servicing when the toggle mechanism is disengaged and the positive prescribable, even and consistent weighting of the top roll against the bottom roll when the toggle is engaged.

What is claimed is:

1. A drafting roll weighting mechanism for use with a textile fiber processing machine having a lower roll and a detachable upper roll mounted atop said lower roll and frictionally driven thereby, said mechanism comprising:

(a) an upper roll support arm attached to said machine and including an open-face bearing formed with an upwardly opening recess slot therein for loosely supporting said upper roll;

(b)' a saddle including a toggle mechanism pivotally attached to said upper roll support arm, said toggle mechanism including (i) a first link thereof selectively movable to a position for applying at an intermediate portion thereof a downward engaging pressure against said upper roll,

(ii) a second link pivotally joined at one end thereof to an end of said first link, said second link being movable between a released position and a locked position wherein said first and second links are locked in relation to each other and whereby an upward pressure exerted against an intermediate portion of said second link is transmitted to provide said downward pressure applied by said intermediate portion of said first link,

(iii) a third link pivotally connected to said first link at the other end thereof and (iv) a fourth link pivotally connected at each end thereof respectively to the other end of each of said second and third links for transmitting locking pressure between said first and second links through said third link; and

(c) biasing means for engaging said intermediate portion of said second link and applying thereagainst said upward pressure.

2. The mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said saddle includes adjusting means for peripheral adjustment of said saddle and therewith said upper roll with respect to said lower roll whereupon said upper roll is engageable with said lower roll at a plurality of positions about its periphery.

3. The mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said biasing means for applying said upward pressure comprises an upwardly biasing spring and a connnection therewith including a plunger rod for engaging said intermediate portion of said second link.

4. The mechanism according to claim 1 wherein said intermediate portions of said first and second links are in the form of ears.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,475,792 11/1969 Herubel l9267 FOREIGN PATENTS 943,331 12/1963 Great Britain l9-267 1,047,498 11/1966 Great Britain l9-272 DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 19-267 

